


The Bonds of a New Spring: Chapter 1

by ShangConor



Series: My Time at Portia: The Bonds of a New Spring [1]
Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Fanfiction, Friendship, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Spring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:38:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShangConor/pseuds/ShangConor
Summary: Aria, a young adult who's settling in Portia to inherit her father's workshop as the new Builder. From her thoughts, she wanted to come to Portia to fulfill her father's wish. As she settles in Portia, she met new people and facing some tests before she fully qualifies as a Builder. Will she pass the test?





	The Bonds of a New Spring: Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my very first fanfiction, this is actually the first time I've written and posted it online. At first, I wasn't very confident with my writing skills due to my English problem. But thanks to my friends on discord, I was able to be brave enough to post my story here. Without their support, I wouldn't have taken the next step to improve my storytelling. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, it wasn't the best one but I promise you I'll make it even better in the future. In the meantime, please enjoy my first Chapter of Aria's journey. :D 
> 
> Just to clarify, the characters in this story 'Diverge from Canon.' I did whatever I can to show the NPC'S characteristics based on my understanding, the plot also changes into my inspiration so I can show more depths into the story.

[](https://shangconor.tumblr.com/)

_ "Did you make the right choice? Did you follow your own heart or did you blindly walk into their lies? The heart that guides you to the answer will show you the truth. Ask yourself, did you do it for your own salvation or doing only as you were told?" _

The voices inside her head had snapped her from her thoughts. Her head was rather dazed, but her consciousness had cleared up due to the clear sunlight of the sea. Her eyes averted from the brightness as the sun shone in her direction; she could feel the breeze from the sailing ship as she stood at the front deck. She can feel the breeze from the wind in the sky, as crystals seemed to shine from the ocean around her face and was showered by its beauty.

Her black hair was tied in a bun-like updo, the breeze running through the free strands. Her eyes are as yellow as the sun, as it shines upon her fair beautiful skin. Her outfit was unfashionable, but showed simplicity and comfort as it is what fit her needs the most; keeping her movements in swift pace. 

As she pondered to herself, she turned her head down. To see her hands which held something dearly, a letter; she had it with her since yesterday. A lump formed in her throat as she focused on the same five words: _ To my dearest daughter, Aria. ‘ _That’s me, I used to be his daughter…’ she thought. Her eyes show a grudge, feeling pained for thinking about the past. She tried her hardest to forget about it, but the letter recalls her for it. The longer she holds on to it, the slower that the letter crumbles from the force of her grip. But her hand prevents it as she hears a distant voice;

“Land ho to Portia!” yelled the captain as he announces the nearing of Portia.

Aria hears the captain, and turns her head to the farthest view. From afar she sees a land filled with green nature along with a clear sky, she had never seen such an intriguing place as it’s filled with unknown and abandoned structures around the whole nation. With a closure, she can finally see the town from the ship, and that is Portia. She puts away her letter into her sling bag, and takes a moment to breath to ease her worries. Then she turns to head back to her seat until the ship arrives at the port.

##  <strike></strike>Morning, 2nd March 

The ship finally stops for departure, not many attendees are on the ship but Aria. She was lucky enough to ride alone, apart from the captain who navigates the ship. It was quiet but the captain was energetic enough to have a few conversations about Portia, he seems to enjoy his job as a sailor. It was a long journey for her, but she manages to arrive Portia safe and sound, thanks to the captain. Aria picks up her luggage and be on her way to get off the ship. Just as Aria was about to jump off, the captain notices something from her and asks, “Oi, so you’re going to be their future Builder, aye?” 

Aria turned to the captain surprised, as he guessed it correctly. “H-hm? How did you know?”

The captain pointed to his temple. Perplexed, she mirrored his movement, only to touch something hard and familiar on her head, sparking understanding. Her hairpin. This pin, a treasure to her, was in the shape of a cog with a black heart in its core, given by someone dear to her. Perhaps he was referring to the cog, rather than just the heart?

“Thought the pin says something about you, I remember seeing someone made one of those. Looks like it was taken care of by you.” 

Aria’s eyes turned to him, curious about the captain. She didn’t want to expect much from him, despite him knowing much about someone particular. But she asked anyway, to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken.

“...You mean my father?” 

“He could be, I don’t know much about him. But I remember he used to be a big deal as a Builder.”

Aria sighed and averted her eyes from him, she knew there was nothing to expect from him despite that he knew Aria’s father. But it’s worth a chance for her to get some information about him, the captain wants to give Aria hope by continuing with his cheers,

“Since you’ll be the new Builder here, I’m sure you’ll claim that role like your pops. I’m sure of it!” 

Aria nods gently, thanking him with a small beam. She jumps off from the ship and turns to him with a wave.“Thanks for the ride, captain.” 

“It’s my job after all, mate. Enjoy your stay in Portia, You’re gonna love it here.”

After they parted their ways, the captain’s ship sails off into the distance while Aria takes a moment to admire the view of this lovely country. Mother nature blessed this land with greens, as grass and trees cover almost every bit of the ground. Birds are chirping from the branches of the trees, feeding their young from its nest. And the breeze feels fresh from spring, it's good weather for everyone who enjoys a good stroll. Aria had never felt this kind of atmosphere in her whole life, despite that she just got her. She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath to feel mother nature. It feels unusual to her, the serenity starkly different to her old home. It wasn’t the same back at Barnarock, it was rather hot with their climate problem. They may have famous things like Cantadurian Melon and the Stone Towers, but Aria couldn’t find anything memorable about Barnarock, besides her stay with her aunt. But Portia, it feels new to her and she can understand why her father wanted her to come here.

As she got lost in her thoughts, she heard a faint sound from nearby.

“Heelllooo? Are you there?”

It sounded like a man, calling for someone. When she returns to her consciousness, she turns to that voice slowly and startled immediately after noticing his presence beside her. He seems to be an adult, with his glasses on with a tanned skin. He has short black hair and has a mustache closely resembling a handlebar mustache. He looks like an experienced man with a blue blazer around him, with a yellow tie that wears with his suit. Aria bows down and apologizes to that man, she didn’t mean to ignore him after getting lost in her thoughts.

“A-ah, I’m sorry! How long have you been calling me? I-I didn’t mean to ignore you!” The man in glasses chuckled and shook his head, “There’s no need to feel bad, I was startling you.” The man in glasses opens his hand wide, giving Aria a big smile.”But let’s put that aside, what matters is that you’re here. Welcome to Portia! You must be Aria, the new Builder.”

The man in glasses takes out his hand for Aria to shake hers, Aria glanced at his hand and slowly grab his hand to allow him to shake with a greet.

“Y-yes, that would be me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” “Please, call me Presley!”.

After their greetings, Presley turns around to the sidewalk and gestured Aria to follow him.

“Come now, let me lead you to your Pa’s workshop.”

Aria immediately trails along after him, wary of wasting his time. He takes her on a scenic path cutting through unkept grasslands, Aria’s eyes fill with wonder as she takes in the environment. She had never experienced such a peaceful village herself, having hardly ever left her house before. Bunnies hopping around the grass, a farmer feeding his animals at his barn, and the sound of the ocean from afar. So many new things, she didn’t know how to even begin settling down here. 

As she was looking around, Presley opens up a conversation,

“We’re glad that you’re here to work as a Builder. I’m sorry that it was all of a sudden for you to come here and take over your Pa’s workshop.”

Aria went silent for a moment after hearing Presley mention her father. She didn’t think he would bring this up, but she’s sure it’s for the best that Presley tries to keep on track with her. She tries to shrug it off and shakes her head in a calm matter,

“No need to feel bad, I want to fulfill my father’s wish after all. Besides…” Aria grips onto her slingback handler tightly, thinking deep about her father as she mentions about him.”...it’s what he desires.” 

Presley couldn’t see what’s on her mind, her expression is rather bland as she’s good at hiding her emotions. But he knew well that Aria has a great future ahead of her, he just needs to support her and guide her.

“I’m sure your Pa would be so proud of you. He’s lucky to have such a talented daughter.” “...how do you know that?” asked Aria dubiously, with a doubtful look as she glared at him. 

Presley turned to Aria back with a smile, “Well he talked alot about you, Aria.” Aria’s eyes gleamed at him for a moment, she was eager to hear when Presley knew about her father.

“Your Pa and I used to be good friends, we had a great journey together as we work our way as Builders. But now that your Pa is gone, I’ll continue to work hard as a Commissioner, as a gratitude from your Pa. Not only will I work hard for him, but I’ll make sure you’ll be able to be the best Builder in Portia just like your Pa.” 

Presley turns to Aria, his eyes shone high expectations towards Aria. She can sense his faith in her as a future Builder. Aria knew she came here for a reason and she didn’t want to disappoint Presley as well, so she nods with determination to show him no worries.

“Understood, I-I’ll do my best.” “That’s the spirit!” exclaimed Presley with excitement.

After their long leisurely stroll, they’ve finally arrive at the workshop. It’s really convenient for her workshop because the entrance to Portia is close, she can just walk there immediately rather than have to take a longer route to the city. However, there seems to be a downside. The workshop looks like a wrecking shed. The yard is rather messy with sticks and stones, possibly the storm was having a typhoon that caused damage to some of the walls along with the fences. Overall, this workshop looks like it was abandoned for centuries. Aria doesn’t know how to express or even react to this workshop, no surprise or disgust. Just her eyes on Presley, with a puzzled look as she thought Presley was joking. Presley scratches his head concerned, not knowing how to explain this condition.

“Well...here’s your Pa’s workshop, I’m sorry about the condition. I tried to call someone to fix it up but he didn’t have the time to swing by,” Presley explained.

Presley doesn’t sound confident when he introduces Pa’s workshop at Aria, he was worried that the workshop might not be suitable for Aria to live or work here. Aria looks at him worried, Presley must’ve wanted to do his best to make Aria feel welcome here. But to think that some people would abandon this workshop, it’s understandable that no one would even come to clean or even repair it since no one lives here anymore. So much for big deal of father as a Builder, is this how people repay him? Aria didn’t really want to see Presley feel pressure about the workshop, so she looks around to see if there’s something useful for her to use. Her eyes locked on something, she then points at the designated area to ask Presley,

“It’s alright, but can I still use that station?”

Presley turns his head to the one that Aria has pointed to, his eyes widened as he goes inside to do an inspection. He seems to do his best to check on the crafting materials. He first inspects the worktable, checking if there’s any damage or necessary tools in its drawers. Then he went to what it seems to be, an assembly station to check the durability and safety towards the platform. Both of them seem to be made out of wood, but it looks sturdy enough to be used as crafting. Presley nods with a smile, and comes back to Aria. He seems eager to give her an answer,

“Sorry for the delay, I’m happy to say that the crafting stations are still in good shape. You can certainly use them!” responded Presley.

Aria gave a slight smile, glad that Presley is not worried anymore about the condition. 

“If that’s okay with you, this is where you’ll be living from now on.”

Aria glared at the workshop for a moment, looking at a disfigured looking shed that she’ll be living in. It may not be comfortable and there’s a risk of injuries if she doesn’t do anything about it, but since there’s a worktable and the ability to fix any damaged props, there’s a chance that she could live in this workshop. Aria nods gently, approve with Presley’s offering. Presley was delighted that everything went smoothly, he then placed his hand in his blazer to grab something for Aria. He took out two things, one is the key to Aria’s workshop, and another one seems to be a book. The pages in the book is rather thick, how can it fit that big in Presley’s blazers? 

“Here’s the key to your workshop, and a handbook. Your Pa wanted me to lend this to you after his… passing. I’m sure you’ll need it.” Presley hands both of the key and a handbook to Aria, she accepts it and takes a closer look at the handbook. 

The books has a cover that says ‘Handy Dandy Book’. Is this really a handbook? And that title… was that my father’s idea to write the title? At least he tried. Aria forced a smile and turned to Presley,

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to take good care of this.” “Well then, take the time off for today and come see tomorrow if you’re ready,” says Presley. Before Presley was about to leave, Aria stops him for a question,

“Um, does that mean I’ll start working tomorrow?” Presley stops as he was reminded by Aria. He was glad that Aria asked him that question, he didn’t want to forget to inform the important part for Aria. He turned around and shook his head. 

“Not so fast, Aria. You can’t start working without your Builder’s license. As much as I want to lend it to you, I can’t allow it until you pass the test.” 

Aria was a bit puzzled about the test that he mentioned. She was wondering if she needs to attend any class or take a paper examination, it would take a year if she does. She doesn’t remember signing up for school, she doesn't like the thought of going back to school and experience it again. 

“A-a test?’ "That’s right! I need to test your building skills to determine your qualification as a Builder, let’s say it’s to warm up your tinkering skills.” “Ahh...I see.”

Aria feels relief after discovering that she won’t have to go to school for the Builder’s license. After a brief from Presley, he gave Aria a last piece of advice with the direction for her to meet him for the test. Finally, Presley bid Aria farewell and left the workshop to head back to work. Aria stands in front of the workshop for a moment, glaring at the condition. She wonders to herself, 

_ How did this workshop end up like this? If my father was really that popular, why didn’t the people treat him respectfully? Maybe they stopped caring when he died and just… left it as it is. _

Aria feels dejected from thinking about it. Then she shakes her head, trying to get rid of the thought. She had already come this far for him, and she’s determined enough to reclaim his throne as a Builder. She grabs her things and proceeds to get inside to see her new house.

When the door is unlocked with the key, Aria slowly opens the door to see what’s inside the house. It’s no surprise from an abandoned house, it looks messy from each corner. No, everywhere that she sees is clutter. Cobwebs where spiders are sheltered on, litters lying around the room along with the dust, and broken floors which it’s questionable on how it happened. Overall, this house needs to be cleaned as soon as possible. Without wasting time, Aria decides to start cleaning the house by looking for some cleaning agents. Luckily for her, she had found some supplies in the bathroom by the cabinets. The water is still working from the sink, and luckily it’s cleaner than murky water. She had to start cleaning in many ways, by dusting areas and sweeping the floor to clear out the dust, wiping the windows to see the clear view, mopping the floors so she can take off her shoes to walk around in her house, and organize some furniture. Then she goes outside, clearing the obstacles like sticks, stones, leaves, and sort it out for her to store them into a chest for future use. Finally, she goes inside to unpack her things.

During her unpacking, she goes to her closet to store all of her clothes in there. As she was organizing, she notices something hiding under the hanging pole of the closet. Curious, she kneels down to investigate and finds a box in there. She couldn’t help herself but to take out the box and take a look inside, there’s a notepad on a box when she was pulling it. It says ‘Dad’s Stash’, she squints her eyes in disappointment when reading it. In other words, this box must’ve belonged to Aria’s father. She was hesitant at first, scared about invading his privacy as it holds many secrets inside the box. However, she’s tempted as well. She wanted to look at his working experience in Portia, it would help Aria to get to know him better. Not only that, but she wanted to know if her father actually kept something important. She took a long glance, deciding whether if it’s a good idea to open the box or not. When she’s ready to open the box, she does it slowly and gently like an expensive antique. 

When she finally opens the box fully, she can see many items contained in the box. Old clothes, paperwork, a wedding ring… wait, a wedding ring? She tries to pick it up, but the ring seems to be attached to something. She didn’t want to force it open, so she rummages it instead to take out the full attachment. When she pulls it up, she was holding a picture frame this whole time. Somehow, she feels uneasy from holding a frame. With the wedding ring that her father had stored away and attached to this frame, she didn’t want to know what happens next. But her curiosity had led her to flip the picture frame, showing a picture of a family. The picture shows a little girl, which is Aria herself.There’s her father too, holding her shoulder with his gentle palm. And a woman, who did the same thing as her father. They all look happy together. But for some reason, Aria looks restless when she’s looking at the photo. She was confused, questioning who that woman was. When she tries to recall it, her hands started shaking. She felt the daze from her head as her heart aches. When she felt the cold sweat from her hands, she couldn’t take it and immediately placed the picture frame into the box and sealed it shut. She takes a moment to breathe, she regrets even bothering to look in her father’s box. She tries to take her time to recover, and forgets that it ever happened and proceeds with her chores.

## Evening, 2nd March

The sun is setting, as the day passes by before the night comes, Aria had spent most of her day cleaning the house. The room was spotless, crystal clear, all of the stuff was well-organized, and the yard was finally cleared from the clutter of unwanted resources. Aria managed to use some spare time to fix the floor thanks to her building skills, but it’s not fully finished as there are more holes to be filled. She didn’t have enough logs to fill up the rest but managed to fix up the small parts. What’s left is for her to take out the trash from the house. She picks up the garbage bag and opens the door to see that it’s already evening; she was rather surprised how time had passed so fast. She couldn’t remember the last time she was in her room, but it’s good as a change of pace. She goes outside of the gate, and store the garbage bag into a garbage can.

As she was taking out the trash, she notices a presence from something. Not from something, but someone, it’s either watching her or is actually right beside her. When she turns around, she sees a country-side like woman. Her smile shows cheerfulness in her fair skin, with her face covered in freckles. Her eyes show Aria kindness in her dark cyan eyes. Her hair is blonde and braided, her ears are accompanied with her earrings. With a plaid red and white shirt, tying into a bow ship at her stomach and jeans, she’s like a sunny farmer gal. The sunny woman greeted Aria with joyful energy,

“Hello there!” Startled, Aria leaps back to distance herself from the invasion of her personal space. The sunny woman doesn’t seem to freak out nor feel bad from Aria’s surprise, she just gives her a beam of a smile, expecting her to respond. Aria takes a moment to calm herself down and greets slowly as well.

“O-oh um, Hi. W-who’re you?” The sunny woman giggles from Aria’s shyness, she was kind enough to introduce herself to Aria gleefully, “I’m Emily, your new neighbor! I live by the ranch in front of the wheat fields. What’s your name, neighbor?” Emily promptly takes out her hand, ready to shake her hand for a greet. Aria glances at Emily at first as she was a bit nervous about her, then she glares at Emily’s hand. She slowly lures her hand closer to Emily’s to greet her,

“My name’s Aria, it’s nice to meet you--” Without missing a second, Emily shakes Aria’s hand rapidly, and tightly at the same time filled with excitement. ”Me too! It’s really nice to have a neighbor next door!” 

After a long handshaking, Emily finally lets go of her hand. Aria was quite surprised by Emily’s personality. She wasn’t frightened of her energy, Emily’s personality somehow feels familiar to her, as if she had experienced it before. At the same time, Aria seems to be on guard around Emily since she was being too friendly. Emily then offers something to her,

“You should drop by at the ranch sometimes, I’d be happy to show you my babies too!”

Aria can sense the friendliness from Emily as she invites her to the ranch, but she was hesitant to accept her offer. Her eyes averting Emily’s contact, she didn’t feel comfortable around her nor people who tried to be friendly around her. Instead, Aria finds excuses to decline her offer.

“T-that’s very nice of you, Emily. But I’m a bit exhausted from the cleaning spree.” “That’s alright, I hope we could make an acquaintance!”

Aria can feel Emily’s presence coming closer to her, as she tries to get along with Aria. Aria didn’t want things to get awkward, since she has nothing interesting to share with Emily. To escape, Aria decides to end the conversation and run back into her house.

“I-I see. Well, I should get going now. H-have a good day.” 

Aria bows down politely, and turns around to walk calmly back to her house. As she was about to reach for the doorknob, Aria hears a word from Emily before she leaves.

“It was nice knowing you, Aria. I’ll talk to you later!”

Emily finally leaves the workshop, leaving Aria standing in front of her door. It bothered her for a moment when she heard Emily, who was hoping to be friends with her. She couldn’t possibly think that Emily would want to be her friend, she knew there’s a wall against anyone who tried to befriend Aria. Even if she did, things would go south and everything wouldn’t matter to her anymore. Her sorrow had crawled onto her back, making her think nothing but disappointment. She didn’t want to feel this way, she hoped for Emily for the best that she wouldn’t come closer to her. Aria sighed, and tries to brush it off as she doesn’t want to distract herself from her test for tomorrow. And so, she finally goes inside to start her studies for tomorrow’s test as a Builder.

## Early Morning, 3rd March

A new day has begun, Aria wakes up in her workshop for the very first time. She was rather amazed by how she can wake up early in the morning, thanks to the sun that shines from her window. She didn’t need any alarm nor lights to wake her up, if there is any alarm clock here that is. Despite that she was studying the handbook for a night, it didn’t bother her sleep schedule as her dexterity allows her to learn and understand the subject quickly. She could learn anything effortlessly, at least if it interested her. What bothers her is that she didn’t sleep well last night, the big holes around her room had made her nights a bit problematic. She’ll have to deal with the floors later, since she has a test to attend. She decides to get ready for her first day in Portia.

**\-----**

After a long preparation, she stands in front of the door, glaring at it as she thinks about what she would do after she opens the door. What will happen if she went there? Do you think people will notice her? What will they think of her? Maybe they wouldn’t care for a newcomer? Perhaps she was just overthinking; she has a test to attend after all. She closes her eyes, takes a long deep breath as she calms her mind. Then she slowly opens her eyes, nods with determination and opens the door to make her way to Peach Plaza.

As Aria takes a step into Peach Plaza, her eyes are looking everywhere, discovering new things. The fountain had caught her first view as it was in the middle of the street, there seems to be a statue of a man. Aria takes a closer look at the sign, to find that this man is named Peach as well. There must be a good reason why this plaza is named after Peach, perhaps Aria should find more to study. Not only did the fountain catch her attention, but there seems to be lots of buildings around and a few routes that she can go. If Aria remembers correctly, Presley mentioned that he is working at the Commerce Guild. She didn’t have to look too hard, since the Commerce Guild is just in front of the fountain, and there’s a big sign that says ‘Commerce Guild’ on top of the door anyway. Without wasting time, Aria makes her way there when suddenly she hears shouts from the side,

“Hey, move out of the way!”

Aria didn’t question it, she senses something’s going to happen to her. With her sharp eyes, she swiftly leaps back and sees several people running from the right direction. Aria made the right decision to dodge, but her dodge had taken her off guard as she bumps into a citizen by accident.

“What the-- Watch where you’re going, young lady!” “A-ah, I’m sorry!”

Aria panics and bows down to apologise, she feels disgraceful for bumping into a random citizen. She takes a step back to give him space, then she sense another coming for her and dodged again. It’s the same people who just passed by her before, are they jogging in the middle of Peach Plaza? Aria couldn’t handle people as she had dealt too much trouble here, she didn’t want to be here long to bother them again. She turns to the Commerce Guild, and rushed to the building rapidly without looking back.

Inside the Commerce Guild, in a sweat, Aria opens the door and shuts it from behind. She takes a moment to catch her breath, and calms herself down. When she’s all set, her curiosity leads her eyes to look around the Commerce Guild. There’s a lot of things she had found in here; there’s a mini library at the back of the Commerce Guild, lounge which some workers can rest or have a business meeting, billboards that are filled with papers, and a counter where people can consult. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone at the counter at the moment. Except Presley, who’s at the desk working on his paperwork. He lifts his head and notices Aria standing at the door, he stands up and gives Aria a big wave as Presley makes his way to meet her,

“Good morning, Aria! You looked flushed, is everything okay with your first night?” Presley notices her eyes looking flushed along with a slight sweat on her face. Aria shakes her head and attempts to clear her expression into a calm matter, “ N-no, I’m okay! Just a little lost.” “It’s alright, Aria. Everyone gets lost as newcomers sometimes, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”

Presley went back to his desk to grab something for her, while Aria took a sigh as she’s relieved that she managed to hide her weakness from Presley. When he’s done looking, he came back to her with papers on his hands that are hiding behind his back. And with a smile on his face, he reveals it to her to brighten up the mood with a fanatic brief,

“Tadadada~! Your test begins now, here’s your first task for today.”

Aria accepts his paper to take a look at her first examination task, she takes a moment to understand what she needs to do. When she was reading it, she finds several familiraties from the words. She believes that she studied this part before from the handbook, she doesn't look shocked or worried about this one since she has faith that she could do it. Presley looks impressed with Aria’s tranquility, he thought she would freak out like other rookies who had taken the test. He has high expectations towards Aria, her determination reminds Presley of Aria’s father, who also had a composed expression. He knows that Aria could pull it off, he just needs to support her. When Aria’s done with the instructions, she excuses herself and went out to start her test.

**\-----**

During her expedition outside of Portia, it takes a while for her to find materials that requires for the items to be made. She has to explore somewhere that drops most resources, and that’s the forest. The resources are not that hard to find since it requires sticks and stones, she can find sticks under the tree as the branches can be broken at any time. While the stones, possibly can be found on the ground if she’s lucky enough. Some resources are limited, as mother nature wouldn’t allow her to retrieve everything infinitely. Sometimes she can find more by the animals, she had to sneak in and get it before they would notice her presence. For stones, she hoped that she had the necessary tools on her to break the boulders. But for the sake of time, picking up stones is enough for her. Now that she’s satisfied with the resources, she’s ready to head back to her workshop. It’s a long walk for her, her bags are almost filled with sticks while her hands are full with stones as it’s too heavy for her to store it in her bag.

As she was walking back, she saw a ranch. She recalls that Emily owns a ranch at her place. Curious, she decides to stop and take a glance at the ranch from outside. The wheat fields are easy to capture Aria’s eyes, it’s like a big field for children to run around for a chasing game, maybe a nice leisure walk for a peaceful moment, or farmers to cut out some wheat to make some homemade bread. Not only does Emily have a wheat fields, but she also seems to own some animals. Aria can see her feeding her chicks and ducks, she remembers that Emily owns ‘babies’. Was she referring to her chicks? Aria’s guess had helped her realise that she loves animals like real children. As Aria stood there looking around, Emily takes a short break from feeding her animals. Then she notices a woman from afar, she squints her eyes for a better view. Her face brightens up when she discovered that it was Aria, Emily calls for her and waves hello as she’s excited to see her. 

When Aria hears a shout from afar, she gets startled as she hears someone call her name. Then she notices that it was Emily who’s giving her a good wave. Aria didn’t know what Emily wanted from her, she takes the time to think quickly. 

_ Is Emily waving at me, or is she waving at someone else? If it’s me then should I wave back? No maybe she’s not waving at me, there’s a chance that she’s gesturing me to go away. A-ah! I’ve been standing her a bit too long, she might think I’m a weirdo! _

Instead of waving back, Aria hides her face with the rocks that she’s carrying on her hand and runs off back to her work shop. Emily tilts her head, puzzled with Aria’s behavior, confused to why Aria would leave like that. She thought to herself, perhaps she didn’t notice or was a bit too busy with her work that she rushed off. She didn’t think too deeply about it and shrugged, she finishes her break and continues her farm chores.

After a long expedition of gathering, Aria is finally back in her workshop. She places all of her materials on her worktable to do a bit of an inspection to ensure all of the resources are sufficient enough to craft the specific tools. She’s lucky that there are some spare tools in the drawer of the worktable, it’s truly convenient for her to use it rather than buying it. When everything is all set, she stretches her hands to the sky and gets ready to start crafting. 

## Noon, 3rd March

Few hours had passed since Aria started crafting, it took a while for her to produce some materials but she’s finally done it. The test explained that she needs to craft two specific tools, she’s glad that she gathered enough materials to make them, otherwise she’ll have to waste another hour to gather more. She holds onto it for a moment to test the grip and comfort to ensure safety when people use them, then she bangs it on the floor to see if it’s durable enough for it to knock without breaking it in a blow. When she’s satisfied enough, she can safely assume that she did a good job on making them. Without wasting time, she decides to bring them to the Commerce Guild to submit it to Presley.

**\-----**

During this time, lunch hour has already set as everyone is free to go take a breather or have some lunch. Before Aria comes in, she takes a quick break to refill her energy. She decides go to a restaurant which is just around the corner, but her mental state is not prepared for her to go in. She’s lucky enough that the bench is just right beside the Commerce Guild, which means she wouldn’t have the worry to rush there. Her lunch wasn’t anything special, but she didn’t complain about it since this bread was made with love by her aunt. When she’s done eating, Aria made her way to the Commerce Guild.

As she went inside, she couldn’t find Presley anywhere. His desk was empty, something tells Aria that he’s out for the time being. The only person that she found in here is another man, who’s currently busy with his nails.

Aria has never seen a man who looks so flamboyant, he has a good taste with a multi-colored hairstyle. He has pink hair on top while the blonde stays on the side. His eyes show glamourosity along with his aquamarine eyes, while freckles are covering his fair skin. His outfit is strict with style, fitting with purple stripes, while his shirt flows like a cape in a three-tailed style. Judging from his florid appearance, he truly shows care for beauty. Aria feels nervous as he’s the only stranger that’s around here, she wanted to ask where she can find Presley, but she was hesitant as she knew that the flamboyant man might not acknowledge her. Looking at her outfit, it would be impossible to attract his attention since it shows nothing but simplicity. 

Aria had an idea to leave and wait outside until Presley is back, she didn’t want to bother his manicure as it feels rude to interrupt. However, the flamboyant man notices her presence with a sharp glance. Before Aria was about to turn to the door, he speaks up without turning his head to Aria.

“Looking for Presley, dear?”

Aria freezes at the door, startled from the flamboyant man’s sharp eyes. She never expected the man to notice her, and strangely enough to be calling Aria ‘dear’. She slowly turns to him, doing her best to show her composure. She didn’t want to say anything to him, she fears that her words might displease him. Instead, she just nods silently. The flamboyant man takes a moment to gaze upon her and grins as he’s intrigued by her. Then he holds out his hand, showing her the lounge chairs. 

“Presley is currently out for lunch, why don’t you take a seat? He won’t be long.”

Aria is glad the flamboyant man is offering her a seat, but somehow her hesitation won’t allow it. She thinks that she’s not qualified enough to sit at the business lounge, it feels distasteful to her as she feels like she doesn’t fit here. It took a while to find a good word for her to respond as she shakes her head,

“T-thank you for the offer, but I’ll be fine. I’ll just wait outside for--””I insist. This ain’t a seat for celebrity after all.” “S-sorry for intruding, I’ll take a seat.” Somehow the flamboyant man manages to persuade her to sit without a second thought from Aria. She bows politely and makes her way to the lounge to sit down as the flamboyant man glances at her. 

“Just relax, honey. You had a long day of examination, you’ll need them beauty rest yeah?”

Aria turns to the flamboyant man, wondering why was he being friendly around her. She didn’t want to think too much about him, but by looking at his glare, she starts overthinking.

_Maybe he might have something up his sleeve_ _...or maybe he’s keeping an eye on me to ensure that I don’t slack off? N-no, I’m just overthinking it! But..._

Aria gives a gentle nod and keeps her head down to remain silent. The flamboyant man keeps glaring at her, he knew Aria was a reserved one. But he didn’t want to draw her attention with the silent treatment that Aria is giving, he grins at her and proceeds to go back to his work to leave her be.

\-----

After a long wait sitting on a chair, Aria hears a door opening from afar. Aria’s eyes are on the door, to find that Presley has returned from his lunch. Aria immediately stands up from her seat, and make her way to Presley as she took out the required items for the test.

“U-um, Presley?” Presley hears a familiar voice, he smiles and turns around to expect Aria with her items. He looks astonished when he has his eyes on her hands,

“Ah! I see you’ve completed your first test, may I?”

Aria nods and hands the required items to Presley. He takes a moment to inspect the item, takes his magnifying glasses to check the quality. Then he holds on to it from up to down to test the strength and durability, and for some reason he has the energy to swing it around to test... something. When he’s done, he nods profoundly and turns to Aria impressed.

“Wonderful job, Aria! The axe and pickaxe show great quality in it. You passed your trial, congratulations!” Aria’s eyes beamed, secretly feeling proud about herself after Presley praised her. “You can keep it, as a token of your hard work.” ”Eh?”, Aria’s eyes shattered into a hopeless oblivion, thinking that Presley might not like it enough to keep it. Presley notices Aria’s mortification from her frozen stand, and tries to fix his misunderstood words “Not to worry, Aria. You need these tools for your final test!”

Aria turns to Presley surprised, she didn’t think there was another test. But now that she thinks about it, the first test was rather simple for her. Aside from the gathering of course, it takes up a lot of time to find the necessary parts for her to make some tools. But the crafting is what she’s interested the most, her hands can work fast when she’s crafting something. Overall, Aria nods as she’s ready for the next test. Presley goes back to his desk to grab something from his drawer as usual, when he’s done, he comes back with another paper in his hand and lends it to Aria. After receiving the paper from him, Aria takes a moment to study the next assignment. Her eyes widened, surprised with the new assignment that she’s reading. Presley raises his eyebrows, noticing Aria’s unawareness. 

“Surprising, isn’t it?” Aria shakes her head, trying to hide her discouragement as she didn’t want to worry Presley, “O-oh, well I’ve studied this one before. But the materials though…” “Ah yes, you need more than the ones that you’ve gathered. I believe you’ll be able to find more at the Abandoned Ruins.” “A-abandoned ruins?” “That’s right! You can find more minerals there, just head right and go upwards where you’ll find an Abandoned Ruins just beside the graveyard.”

Aria stood there, silent, as her eyes are on the paper, she’s rather concerned about this trial after she heard something about ‘Abandoned’. She didn’t like the sound of that, she thought the word meant something horrific. When it’s ‘abandoned’, there’s a chance that there might be haunted ruins or worse…

_ T-there could be ghosts there. N-no, I’m overthinking again. There’s no possible way that there’s ghosts… is there? _

“Something wrong, Aria?” Aria snapped from her overthinking, alarmed from Presley’s presence to check on her. She then changed her expression to her calm self and shook her head, “N-not at all, Presley! I’ll be on my way now, thank you for the advice.”

Aria excuses herself with a bow and runs off to the door to proceed with her next test. As Presley watches her leave, he notices that the Flamboyant man has been having his eyes on her since he got in the Commerce Guild. He was curious about his behaviour, and decided to ask him by approaching him. 

“You’ve been staring at her for a very long time, Antoine?” Antoine turns to him, grinning as he couldn’t do much after getting caught from Presley, “Oh? Ah my apologies, I couldn’t help myself with the new Builder. There’s something… peculiar about her.” “Is that so? I believe that she shows potential as a Builder.” 

Antoine nods, then he has something on his mind. “Apart from that, she seems enthusiast with this one.” Presley doesn’t seem too sure about Aria being an enthusiast, he scratches his head and sighs. “That’s true, but she looks nervous after looking at the recent task. I think I might be too difficult on her--” 

Antoine paused him, holding out his finger to give him a hush to stop with his negative thoughts. He didn’t want to hear any of that from Presley, 

“Nonsense, Presley. Just like you said, she has high potential. Don’t tell me you’re doubting her already,” grinned Antoine.

Presley was glad that Antoine stopped him from talking, he didn’t want to have a single doubt from Aria as he believes that she has the same ability as her father. He knows that Aria will be the best Builder, Presley just needs to wait for that moment until she shows that full potential of hers. He smirks back to Antoine and place his fingers on his chin determined with his words,

“You know what? I think I gave her a suitable test, this assignment will truly surpass her expectations. For now, let’s hope she comes back with her end results.”

Antoine nods profoundly. They both didn’t have to worry about her as they have faith in her. Without any objection, they both went back to work.

# END OF CHAPTER 1


End file.
